People who travel often go home with useless stuff they probably won’t ever use again, but Queens Village resident Franklyn Gutierrez took home one heck of a souvenir when he went to Scottsdale, Arizona, last fall: a scratch-off card entitling him to free Haagen Dazs ice cream for an entire year.

“I never won anything, actually. My wife told me we won the first place prize. I was like, ‘Get out of here,’” said Gutierrez.

Gutierrez usually gets the Bailey’s shake on his visits to Haagen Dazs, but on that particular day, he decided to try the Dazzler, a frozen dessert consisting of three scoops of ice cream and three layers of toppings. He received scratch-and-win cards, which he handed to his wife and didn’t even scratch off until they were on the way to their airport.

One of only 12 winners in the country, he still can’t believe his luck, and neither do most of the people he tells the story to.

“What are the chances? I’m a New Yorker, I go to Arizona for one day and I end up winning ice cream for a whole year,” said Gutierrez. “I mean, it’s Arizona. It was hot, so we went to the mall for ice cream.”

Back in New York, where it’s now mid-winter, Gutierrez is still working on the $520 gift card ($10 a week for ice cream) he received from Haagen Dazs. He’s sharing the wealth with his parents and his daughter, but he estimates he still has a balance of over $400.

“Being that it’s cold, we don’t use it every week, maybe every other week, so it’ll last for a while,“ he said. “The summer is coming up, so we’ll find an excuse to use it.”

He may have received the ultimate payoff for being a loyal Haagen Dazs customer, but Gutierrez isn’t looking for a lucky streak.

“I play the Lotto a little bit more now, but I’m not one of those guys who are going to go out and try to improve my luck,” he said. “If it happens, it happens. I tried the new Dazzler and it was well worth it.”